Suspected invaders may be involved in other metro crimes

The five, ages 15 to 20, are all from the Tifton area.

The five suspects in a Sandy Springs home invasion could be linked to crimes in other parts of metro Atlanta, police said Tuesday.

Investigators haven’t said why the suspects — all from the Tifton area — ended up in north Fulton County. Collaboration between multiple police agencies 150 miles apart quickly led to the arrests of the five, who range in age from 15 to 20.

“We hadn’t worked with Sandy Springs police before,” Capt. Richard Eschenbach with the Dooly County Sheriff ’s Office said Tuesday. “But together, we were able to quickly get these suspects in custody.”

Now investigators are working to determine if the suspects are linked to other crimes, including car break-ins in Roswell over the weekend.

Shortly after 3 a.m. Sunday, Sandy Springs officers were called to a home on Aberdeen Drive, where residents said five armed intruders had just broken in.

“After realizing that the homeowners were home, the perpetrators fled the home,” Sandy Springs Sgt. Salvador Ortega said in an emailed statement.

Officers were able to alert other Georgia police agencies about the incident and alleged getaway car, Ortega said. Dooly County deputies spotted the vehicle and, after a pursuit and crash, arrested all five people inside, Ortega said.

The Dooly sheriff ’s office identified them as Jarius Johnson, 17, Jacolbeion Demarcus, 20, Jamie Brown, 18, and two juveniles, ages 15 and 16. They are from the Tifton area, Eschenbach said. The juveniles were both released to their parents. The three older suspects remained in custody Tuesday in Dooly, the sheriff ’s office said.

Sandy Springs investigators are also working to determine if the suspects are responsible for a similar incident Friday night at a home on Northside Drive.

“During this case, five armed intruders held the homeowner and her daughter at gunpoint,” Ortega said about Friday’s incident. “The perpetrators stole various items along with two vehicles belonging to the victim. The victims in that case, although traumatized by the incident, were not physically hurt.”

In social media posts, a woman said she and her 16-year-old daughter were the victims when five people broke into her gated home around 9:45 p.m. The home also has nine security cameras, the woman said. Property records indicate the 11,000-square-foot home has seven bedrooms and six bathrooms.

“They held guns to our heads and went room to room stealing valuables, then left in two of our cars,” the woman posted.

Phones and ipads were stolen, but the cars were later found, the woman said.

Anyone with information on either case is asked to contact Sandy Springs police Detective S. Smith at Ksmith@sandyspringsga. Gov.